Just weeks after the terrorist attacks in Paris, the ruling Socialists and the conservative Republicans find themselves for the first time trailing the National Front of Marine Le Pen in six out of 13 regions.A crucial second round of voting takes place next Sunday.

"What we represent the day after this election is a real breath of freedom, independence and uprightness"

Beijing has issued a red pollution alert, its most severe smog warning, for the very first time. The government has warned that the Chinese capital could come under a heavy haze from Tuesday until Thursday. The warning, which was upgraded from the previous orange alert on Monday, will be effective from 7am December 8 until noon on December 10, according to a statement on the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau’s official Weibo account.

The bureau said it issued the alert to “protect public health and reduce levels of heavy air pollution.” It ordered certain industrial companies to stop or limit production, and outdoor construction work to be banned. Primary schools and kindergartens have been urged to cancel classes. People have been advised to avoid outdoor activity, and to use public transportation if they must travel. Traffic restrictions have been placed on certain types of vehicles, and cars have been limited to driving every other day, depending on the last number of their license plate.

Finland is planning to pay each citizen €800 (US$920) per month as a national basic income. The sum will be the same for everyone, regardless of a person’s income level, and is expected to replace welfare benefits.

The proposal is set to be presented in November 2016, although for the moment it is not clear how the country will handle the exorbitant costs of €52.2 billion a year for 5.4 million Finnish people – €47 million counting adults only.

Finland’s revenue for 2016 is expected to reach €49.1 billion, and the predictions for the country’s financial situation are grim. “The Finnish economy is in a serious situation. GDP growth is close to zero. Unemployment is rising and unemployment spells are becoming longer. Even once the recession is over, growth will be painfully slow,”Finland’s finance ministry said in its August report.

The proposal is being drafted by the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (Kela), which says the idea has a 69-percent approval rating among the population. Apart from the people, it’s backed by the country’s premier, Juha Sipila, who says that“a basic income means simplifying the social security system.” If the proposal goes ahead, a trial is set to take place: initially Finns will receive €550 monthly for before the basic income comes into effect at a later date.

Finland isn’t the first place to consider a basic income plan: the Dutch city of Utrecht is trialing a similar proposal next year, with the payments targeting only welfare recipients. In September, the Swiss parliament voted against a basic income scheme, but a referendum on the issue is set to take place in 2016.

France wants to introduce new security measures following the deadly November 13 Paris attacks, which could outlaw the use of encrypting software for anonymous connections and public Wi-Fi. Critics say the authorities are using the tragic event to clamp down on internet use.

The French government is pondering whether to introduce measures which could make the use of Tor, the free anonymizing software, illegal and to make it harder for terrorists to contact one another over the internet, according to an internal document from the Ministry of the Interior, as seen by Le Monde and cited by online magazine the Motherboard. However, the software is also used by journalists and whistleblowers as a safe way to correspond to avoid government surveillance.

A passenger jet heading from Berlin to Hurghada, Egypt, landed in Budapest due to a bomb threat, Hungarian police said on Monday. Police conducted searches of the plane’s passengers and luggage, but found no explosives, police spokeswoman Viktoria Csiszer-Kovacs told Reuters. She added that the threat targeted the airline company, but declined to name the airline operator.

Tens of thousands of homes have been left without power after a storm swept across northern Britain.The county of Cumbria was worst affected. Gales, flooding and landslides caused traffic chaos and forced the evacuation of families in several towns.

Western coalition strikes Syrian army compound, several dead, dozen injured

US-led coalition warplanes are reported to have killed four Syrian soldiers in the Dier al Zor province, which is mostly under the control of Islamic State. If confirmed, this would be the first time coalition planes have hit Syrian troops, Reuters reports.

A Syrian government source confirmed that the airstrike had taken place and that there had been casualties. The source also added that vehicles had been destroyed.

A total of four Syrian Army soldiers have been killed, while a further 16 were injured, a government source told RIA Novosti.